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JOAN JAFFE has appeared on Broadway, Off-Broadway, National tours, Stock, Dinner Theatre, TV, Soaps, Films, Commercials and Night Clubs. Ms. Jaffe's stage credits include the Broadway productions of Much Ado About Nothing, Bajour and Foxy (with Burt Lahr); starring roles in the Off-Broadway productions of Charge It, Please! and Ladies of the Alamo and was recently featured as Mrs. Bucket in TROPHY WIFE - LaMaMa; Nellie Cohan in GEORGE M. COHAN: IN HIS OWN WORDS and THE GEORGE M. COHAN REVUE; national touring company productions of Sweet Charity and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.

Her many roles on stage have included everything from an octopus, a robot and the Statue of Liberty to the proverbial Jewish mother.

On screen, she played Mom in Approaching Union Square; Florence in Proof of Birth. She and husband Hal Blankenship appear as Burt & Lizzie (the low rent Steve & Edie) in The Savages (with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linnie). Having started in Show Business as a dancer, she continues to take class (old dancers never die they just lose their tutu’s) and just danced in Disney’s Enchanted (Gentle Folk), The Producers film (Little Old Lady) and the Brazilian film, Os Desafinados.. TV credits include As the World Turns, Guiding Light, and Joan often appears in sketch comedy on Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. She’s appeared with the comedy team of Slovin & Allen in L.A., NYC clubs and on Comedy Central.

While starring Off-Broadway in, "CHARGE IT, PLEASE!", she got herself an agent, who advised her to stop everything and start doing stand-up comedy. The latter proved to be excellent advice. She's always had a flair for comedy. From her childhood days in Wilmington, Delaware, when she and Leonard Cutler (whatever happened to Leonard Cutler?) would collect and trade jokes while riding the bus to Hebrew school. They both did better with the jokes than the prayers.

This "Classy Lady Doing Comedy" has played, produced and emceed New York's top rooms. She has produced and emceed many editions of "JOAN JAFFE AND HER EVENING OF ALLSTAR COMEDY" for Stand-up New York and Carolines. For over three years, she produced and emceed Joan Jaffe’s Comedy On Sunday in New York City at Tequilaville, Houlihan’s, Nimrod and Chez Suzette.

She was the recipient of SAG’s Joseph C. Riley Award. Her theatrical union affiliations are Actors' Equity Association, American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and Screen Actors Guild. She was a past Vice-Chair of the Screen Actors Guild Conservatory, where she is also an instructor of "On Camera Commercials". She is a member of the theatrical cooperative Polaris North and is the Performance Director of the M & J Vocal Performance Workshop.

She received a scholarship to study Dance and Drama at the Boston Conservatory of Music, with the stipulation that she play second violin in the Boston Conservatory of Music Orchestra. She received a scholarship to attend New York University and also continue her Dance studies in New York. During this time, Joan was already working professionally in theatre and television and has continued to be a working performer.

She is married to the very talented and handsome actor, Hal Blankenship - and they have their own act, THE JOAN & HAL SHOW, which has been performed at clubs around New York City and has also become an annual event at The Friars Club.